The Bainbridge Island City Council was reminded at its Dec. 2 meeting that the city “calls the shots” when it comes to both affordable and market-rate housing, ahead of a critical decision to be made later this month by the city hearing examiner regarding the proposed development at 625 Winslow Way.

Council heard a presentation from consultant Tory Laughlin Taylor that reviewed how cities can provide subsidized affordable housing. She assessed the island’s current affordable housing stock and emphasized the opportunity that the 625 Winslow Way site represents as an option for development.

Laughlin Taylor is a former member of the state Affordable Housing Board, former chief operating officer of nonprofit development firm Bellwether Housing, and is credited with building over 1,000 units of permanently affordable housing and bringing millions of dollars to affordable housing projects in the Pacific Northwest.

She explained that there are three major elements that together can create suitable conditions for affordable housing to be built: public land, large sources of capital and amenable policy.

“We call them the three legs of the stool,” said Laughlin Taylor. “We talk a lot about the individual legs of the stool, but no one [leg] achieves what you need — inherently when you get into subsidized housing.”

For a stable stool, the land targeted for development should be close enough to commercial areas or places of business that potential residents can work and live in the same general area, said Laughlin Taylor. Zoning should ensure that dense developments are cost-effective, and subsidized capital should be available as seed funding, “because despite the other tools, there is a capital gap in affordability, between what people can afford and the cost of a project financed and constructed,” she added.

Cities are in a uniquely powerful position to facilitate affordable housing development, Laughlin Taylor went on.

Publicly owned land is typically already centrally located and can be used for multiple public benefits; zoning regulations are up to the city; and municipalities are eligible for large state and federal financing that is otherwise off-limits to private developers.

“When the city controls the land, you call the shots, and you hold the cards, which is tremendously valuable,” Laughlin Taylor said.

The council digested Laughlin Taylor’s presentation, adding their thoughts on how Bainbridge specifically can work with the three stool legs to encourage market-rate housing.

Councilmember Leslie Schneider speculated about the possibility of creating a “blanket overlay zone” in some areas of Winslow that would allow larger market-rate developments, but would be limited by a cap on the number of building permits the city agreed to issue. That way, the city could spread out denser housing, potentially attract developers by not requiring adherence to parking provisions and other amenities, and could still control the amount of growth on the island.

City attorney Jim Haney said he’d look into it.

Later in the discussion, councilmembers Jon Quitslund and Kirsten Hytopoulos observed that community members on BI are split on how to increase density and population growth, in any capacity. Quitslund asked Laughlin Taylor whether the “best bang for the city’s buck” would be to focus on types of development that had broad community support — such as small-to-medium-sized projects.

“There’s actually quite a lot of opportunity to build in a way that can reinforce all the wonderful things about Winslow, as an area of the island,” said Laughlin Taylor, responding to Quitslund. “I think the reality is that we won’t be able to accommodate people in our region if we don’t accustom ourselves to five-story buildings, but they can be done in a good way, with lots of community around them.”

Islandwide, affordable housing development is slowly chipping away at the total number of units that Bainbridge must add by 2044, allocated by Kitsap County via House Bill 1220. Over about 20 years, the city must create 1,977 units across all income levels, including 543 units of very low income housing (0-30% of the area median income, or affordable to a single person making about $26,000 or less per year).

Market-rate housing makes up the largest share of BI’s total allocation, with 560 units, followed by very low-income housing, then low-income housing (30-50% AMI, or a single person making between $26,000 and $43,550 per year) with 324 units needed to accommodate population growth equitably.

So far, there are 174 units that fulfill some of the city’s housing targets, all but 18 of which fall in the 50-80% AMI range, or “workforce housing.” Aside from the 625 Winslow Way project, which is still in the planning stages, about 54 units have achieved all three legs of the stool, thanks to the affordable housing nonprofit Housing Resources Bainbridge’s (HRB) status as a land trust, explained Laughlin Taylor.

“There are currently three affordable housing projects in the pipeline that have achieved all three elements and are moving forward: Finch Green, made possible because [HRB]’s use of its role as a land trust has been really key here, and thanks to the land being donated by Bethany Lutheran; the second phase of Wintergreen townhouses, where again [HRB] has acquired an additional 14 units out of a total 73 unit project to hold within their land trust for homebuyers; and then the Ericksen Apartments, which HRB is developing specifically for [lower income brackets] as rentals,” said Laughlin Taylor.

Since 2020, HRB was also able to buy down 13 units in the Oliver development and 17 units in the first phase of the Wintergreen townhome development, Laughlin Taylor added, but if 625 Winslow Way comes to fruition, it will take at least seven years before the project will be ready for residents.

On the upper end of the spectrum, the city planning department estimates that about 188 accessory dwelling units will be added in the conservation area.